Socialists face fight to broker power deal

ATHENS: Greece's Socialist leader, Evangelos Venizelos, faces the thankless task of forming a viable government after a bid by a radical left-wing anti-austerity party ended in failure.

Mainstream Greek parties, including Mr Venizelos's own, are showing signs of wanting to renegotiate the terms of an international bailout. But creditors have warned a loan to be paid yesterday could be the last if Athens reneges on its reform commitments, raising questions over its future in the eurozone.

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Syriza party, now the second largest in the Greek parliament after the conservative New Democracy group, admitted defeat late on Wednesday in his attempt to form a government.

Both the Communists and the Democratic Left declined to join him in a coalition.

''We cannot make true our dream of a left-wing government,'' Mr Tsipras said. ''Tomorrow I shall hand back the mandate given to me by the president of the republic and we shall continue to take part in the constitutional processes.''

On Monday, the New Democracy leader, Antonis Samaras, failed to form a coalition.

Now Mr Venizelos gets his chance as the leader of the Socialist Pasok party, the third-largest presence in parliament. But he knows that the parliamentary arithmetic is against him.

Voters punished both Pasok and the New Democracy for together having pushed through punishing austerity measures in return for the international loans.

In Brussels, a European Union official said that Greece would receive a €4.2 billion ($5.43 billion) loan as expected, but a further €1 billion euros would be held back until Monday.

Agence France-Presse

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